Nathaniel w



(No'ModeL) N. W. KROUSE.

GUT-OFF VALVE FOR TANKS. No. 400,920. PatentedApr; 9, 1889.

l M1 ,IN

' WITNESSES: INVENTOR:

A TTOR/VEYS.

UNITED STATES rrIcE.

NATHANIEL W. KROUSE, OF VYASHINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

CUT-OFF VALVE FOR TANKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 400,920, dated April 9,1889.

Application filed July 11, 1888. Serial No. 279,620. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NATHANIEL W. KRoUsE, of Washington, in the county oflVashington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and ImprovedOut-Off Valve for Tanks, of which the following is a full, clear, andeX- act description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved cut-offvalve specially adapted for oil-tanks, and serving to close the valve inthe pipe-line automatically as soon as the oil has been drawn off intothe pipe-line with which the tank is connected.

The invention consists of certain parts and details and combinations ofthe same, as will be fully described hereinafter, and then pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of the improvement, and Fig. 2 isa detail plan view of one of the brackets.

Oil-tanks connected with pipelines are generally placed on the lowestground on the oilfield or region in which the oil-wells are located, inorder to have the advantage of gravitation in running the oil from thewelltanks to the nearest station. Gravitation alone does not fullyaccomplish the object, and consequently vacuum -pumps are generallyemployed to assist in forcing the oil from the tank through thepipe-line to the nearest station. It the tanks were all upon the samelevel and one tank emptied as rapidly as another, the vacuum-pumps couldoperate uniformly; but as the tanks are not usually on the same levelthe high tanks are emptied first and break the vacuum by admitting airat the tank-connection, thus making the pumps almost useless.

The object of my invention is to shut off the tanks as soon as theybegin to admit air into the outflow-pipe.

The oil-tank A, of the usual construction, is connected near its bottomwith the pipe-line B, in which is placed, near the tank A, avalvecasing, O, containing a valve, D, adapted to be seated on the seatE in the said casing O. A spring, F, acting against the back of thevalve D, serves to force the valve D against its seat E. The valve D issecured on the Valve-stem G, extending upward through suitable bearingsin the valve-casing 0, being provided atits upper end with a handle, G,for raising the stem G and its valve D.

On the stem G, outside of the casing O, is formed a notch, G adapted tobe engaged by the end of a bolt, 11, mounted to slide hori zontally on abracket, held on the upper end of the casing O. The bolt H is pivotallyconnected with one end of a bell-crank lever, I, fulcrumed on thebracket 0, and connected by its other arm with an upwardly-extendingrod, J, connected with a horizontally-extending lever, K, fulcrurned ona bracket, L, secured to the top of the cover A of the oiltank A.

The inner end of the lever K is connected with a downwardly-extendin grod, N, passing through an aperture, A in the cover A, reaching towithin a short distance of the bottom of the tank A, and being providedat its lower end with a horizontally-extending arm, N. On the rod N ismountedto travel loosely up and down a float, O, of any approvedconstruction and resting in the oil of the tank, being provided at itstop with a filling-opening, 0, through which shot or other like weightcan be introduced into the float O or removed from the same to increaseor diminish its weight, according to the specific gravity of the oil inwhich it is used.

On the valve-stem G is secured a staple, P, adapted to engage a hasp, Q,hinged on the bracket 0, and serving to lock said valvestem G inposition.

The operation is as follows: When the tank A is filling with oil, thevalve D rests on the seat E in the casing O, thus closing the pipelineB. The bolt H is then disconnected from its notch G in the valve-stem G,and the valve D is held on the seat E bythe spring F. The stem G islocked by the hasp Q engaging the staple P by means of a suitablepadlock or other device. hen the operator desires to run the oil fromthe tank A intothe pipe-line B, he unlocks the hasp Q, pulls thevalvestem G upward by taking hold of its handle G, so that the valve Dis unseated, and the oil from the tank A may flow through the pipe-lineB. hen the valve-stein G is moved into its uppermost position, then thebolt ll engages the notch G of the valve-stem G, thus looking the latterin its outermost position, as is plainly shown in Fig. 1. Vhen the tankempties, the float O sinks with the level of the oil in the tank untilthe level of the oil is near the opening of the pipe-line B into thetank A. The float 0 then rests on the cross-arm N of the rod N, and assoon as more oil flows into the pipe the float O exerts a downwardpressure on the rod N, thus actuating the lever K, the outer end ofwhich pulls the rod J upward, so as to impart a swinging motion to thebell-crank lover I, which withdraws the bolt II from the notch .4 of thevalve-stem G. The moment the bolt 11 is withdrawn the spring F pressesthe valve D and its stem G downward, and the former is seated on itsseat E, thus closing the pipeline B and preventing a further outflow ofoil from the tank A. Thus the automatic operation of the device, asdescribed, not only stops the outflow of the oil from the tank A intothe pipe-line B, but it also prevents air from passing through the tankAinto the pipeline B and rendering the vacuum-pumps useless.

I do not limit myself to the special construction shown for connectingthe float O with the bolt ll. As the specific gravity of the oil is muchless than that of water and varies a little in the oil from thedifferent fields of production, it maybe necessary to change the form ofthe float, and to make an air-tight vessel buoyant enough to carrysufflcient weight to disengage the bolt H from the valve-stem G.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with an oil-tank and apipe-line connected with the said oil-tank, of a valve located in thesaid pipeline, a spring pressing against the said valve, a bolt engagingthe stem of the said valve, and a float operating on the said bolt towithdraw it whenever the oil in the tank reaches a low level,substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with an oil-tank and a pipe-line connected with thesaid tank, of a valve located in the said pipe-line, a spring pressingagainst the said valve, a valve-stem supporting the said valve andprovided with a notch, a bolt engaging the notch of the said valve-stem,and a float held in the said tank and operating on the said bolt towithdraw it whenever the oil in the tank reaches a low level,substantially as shown and described.

The combination, with a valve located in the pipe-line, of a springpressing against the said valve, a bolt adapted to engage the stem ofthe said valve, and a float located in the oil-tank and operating on thesaid bolt. to withdraw it whenever the oil in the tank reaches alow'level, substantially as shown and described.

-:i. The combination, with a float held in the oil-tank, of a rod onwhich the said float is guided loosely, a cross-arm secured on the lowerend of the said rod, a lever connected with the said rod, abell-cranklever connected with the said lever, a bolt pivotally connected with thesaid bell crank lever, a valve-stem having a notch engaged by the saidbolt, a valve secured on the said valve-stem. and adapted to open andclose the pipe-line, and a spring pressing the said valve downward onits seat in the pipe-line, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination, with a float held in the oil-tank, of a rod on whichthe said float is guided loosely, a cross-arm secured on the lower endof the said rod, a lever connected with the said rod, a bell-crank leverconnected with the said lever, a bolt pivotally connected with the saidbell-crank lever, a valvestem having a notch engaged by the said bolt, avalve secured on the said valve-stem and adapted to open and close thepipe-line, a spring pressing the said valve downward on its seat in thepipe-line, and a lock for locking the said valve-stem in place,substantially as shown and described.

, NATHANIEL \V. KROUSE.

\Vitnesses:

ALEX. M. Bnowiv,

no. 0. .ToNEs.

